Updated 10:57 p.m. May 7
The proposition to make all of Frisco wet for alcohol has failed with all precincts reporting that 70 percent of Frisco voters are against the legal sale of all alcoholic beverages including mixed beverages, while only 30 percent of voters were in favor.
This will result in no change to Frisco's current alcohol regulations. For more information about the city's current alcohol regulations click
here.
The city of Frisco received a petition from a political action committee, the Frisco Committee for Economic Growth, in 2015. The petition had a sufficient number of signatures for the City Council to call for a special local option election to legalize the sale of all types of alcohol within Frisco's city limits, which would include liquor stores.
Every elected city and school district official and all candidates running for City Council or Frisco ISD school board as well as the Frisco Chamber of Commerce were against the proposition saying the wording was too broad and was not indicative of market demand.
"I'm just a bit surprised by the results," said John Hatch of Texas Petition Strategies, the company that coordinated the campaign in favor of the proposition. "Based on our polling it was indicative that we were going to win. I just don't understand."
Some city leaders said this could open further discussion about offering more options to businesses that serve alcohol.
"Seventy percent have said 'we don't want this' and I think we need to step back and listen to that," Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Will Sowell said. "But there does seem to be some desire maybe for entertainment districts in Frisco where maybe you can allow some different uses and different permits than you otherwise would. Whether that's packaged liquor sales or whether that's working with the [Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission] to find an opportunity for restaurant beverage holders then I think we should look at that."
Results are unofficial until canvassed.